Insulation displacement connectors are well known in the art and typically comprise a pair of cantilevered spaced apart blade members each having an internal edge for penetrating through an outer insulation wire cover to bring the internal edges into electrical contact with the electrical wire. The insulation displacement connectors, which are often referred to as IDC connectors, allow one to quickly form an electrical connection between an insulation covered electrical wire and the blade members of the IDC connector without having to manually remove the insulation covering on the wire. The spacing of the blunt edges of the blade from each other are sized so that when an electrical wire with an insulation covering is forced between the blunt edge blades the blunt edged blades penetrate through the soft insulation covering to bring the blunt edge of the blades into electrical contact with the electrical wire without damaging the electrical wire. Typically, the spacing between the blades is wider at the top to facilitate insertion of the insulation-covered wire between the blades. An example of an insulation displacement connector with joined blades is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 9,496,626 where an insertable cover carrying a set of blades can be forced downward into engagement with a main wire located in the housing and a branch wire with the blades simultaneously forcing the insulation from the main wire and the branch while forming an electrical path between the two wires. This type of wire connector has the benefit of allowing one to simultaneously form electrical connections to branch wires by forcing a cover having a set of blades into physical engagement with wires located therein.
Although wire connectors with joined blades may be used in many fields one of the fields well suited for use of joined blade connectors is with tracers wires since frequently a branch tracer wire, which is located along a branch pipeline, needs to joined or tapped into an electrical connection with a main tracer wire that follows a main pipeline. For example, to identify the location of underground pipelines and branch pipelines one forms an electrical branch connection between a main tracer wire, which follows the main pipeline, and a branch tracer wire, which follows the branch pipeline, preferably without cutting the main tracer wire. Examples of various types of tracer wire connectors can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,179,114; 8,637,774; 7,950,956; 7,093,858 and 7,179,114.
Typically, to connect two tracer wires together may require one hand to hold a set of wires in position for electrical engagement while also supporting one section of a two-part connector and with the other hand align a second section of the two-part connector with the first section of the two-part connector. Next, one engages the parts of the two-part connector to each other to form an electrical connection of the wires therein. Connections that require wire alignment before securement are typically best suited for two people since one person can hold the wires in position while the other person aligns the wires and engages the two parts of the two-part wire connector with each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,472,869 discloses an example of insulation displacement wire connector having a pair of opposed rotateable pivot arms that can be separately rotated from an open condition to a closed or locked condition. Rotating one of the pivot arms bring the electrical wire with an insulation cover thereon between resilient tabs or blunt edge blades on an edge connector to simultaneously bring an electrical wires into electrical contact with the edge conductor. Rotating the other pivot arms brings the other electrical wire with an insulation cover thereon between a set of further resilient tabs or blunt edge blades on an edge connector to simultaneously bring the electrical wire into electrical contact with the edge conductor and into electrical contact with the other electrical′ wire through the electrical engagement of the edge connector with each other.
One of difficulties with forming a branch attachment to a main wire is that one needs to ensure that the branch electrical wires are properly positioned in the wire connector before the electrical connections are formed. Sometimes field conditions as well as other conditions make it difficult to determine if the branch wire is properly positioned for forming an electrical connection thereto.